There are numerous types of armor plating assemblies which have been tried in the history of warfare, including fixed and portable shields of various sorts. Almost all of these rely on the principal of heaviness, hardness or thickness to directly absorb or fragment the impact of the bullet or other anti-personnel missiles (arrow, projectile or the like).
For example, sophisticated body armor comprising a series of built-up layers of nylon and KEVLAR which absorbs and spreads the bullet impact by virtue of use of spaced fibrous material is currently available. U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,889 (Miguel, 1983) discloses composite armor comprising layers of high density steel honeycomb, balsa wood, and ballistic-resistant nylon such as KEVLAR, sandwiched in various arrangements between outer layers of steel armor plate particularly adapted for use as the floor armor on military tanks for attenuating mine blast loading. Other types of more historic body armor include hardened structures such as suits of armor, hardened steel armor plate, woven or mesh material (e.g., chain mail) and the like.
For larger battle structures, such as tanks, personnel carriers, ships and bunkers, a variety of similar energy absorbing hardened materials have been used. These range from simply thick concrete to heavy armor plate, or laminated composite structures. A more recent development is the use of double wall for tank armor, the outer wall of which causes the incoming armor-piercing round to explode relatively harmlessly a few inches outwardly from the main structural wall of the tank. However, the counter to this is the development of two-part ammunition, wherein a first charge pierces the outer shell, permitting a main charge to subsequently impact the main structure of the tank through the hole produced in the outer wall by the first charge.
A second type of ammunition used which is capable of causing substantial damage to a combat vehicle is impact-fused ammunition. Impact-fused ammunition generally comprises a hollow shell made with an internal cone, directed forwards, which at the activation of a bursting charge, within the tip of the shell, gives rise to a jet directed forwards which is intended to cut through the vehicle armor plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,984 (Winblad, 1982) discloses an apparatus used to protect a combat vehicle such as a tank, from such impact-fused ammunition. Winblad teaches mounting an umbrellalike screen on the forward part of the main gun barrel of a tank to intercept and cause to detonate incoming impact-fused ammunition some distance away from the outer shell of the tank and provide dissipation of the charge before it reaches the armor. The detonator screen is an open mesh-work, preferably of chain links, that can be retracted against the gun barrel and has a mesh size open enough to permit vision by the tank driver and gunner, yet said to be sufficiently tight to be effective in intercepting a substantial percentage of incoming rounds.
The above mentioned references are related in that the armor plating assemblies employed are used for protection against specialized destructive ammunition (e.g. large arms fire, mine blasts, two-part charges, etc.). They also share the same disadvantages of relying on excessive bulk and thicknesses of material to perform the function of protection. They are often overkill and impractical for use in repelling small arms fire.
The handling and relatively safe disposal of explosives, such as bombs, is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,731 (Tabor, 1973). Tabor discloses an enclosure comprising a generally "elastic" support structure, having a suspended net therein, used for holding the explosive charge away from intimate contact with the support structure walls. The support structure is formed from a lamination of a suitable materials, such as fiberglass, and will de-laminate upon detonation of an explosive within its confines rather than break apart in the form of flying fragments. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,392,978 (Weist, 1968); and 4,045,027 (Manaska, 1977) disclose game apparatus used to catch or redirect incoming game balls. These references show specially designed hand held game implements that have a specific amount of curvature enabling a player to catch and subsequently throw a ball, as in Weist, or merely deflect a spherical object in order to keep it in play, as in Manaska. These references teach the use of a single, handheld game device to receive or deflect an incoming relatively slow speed, soft ball, but in no way suggest a device as protection against incoming small arms fire.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved armor plating particularly adapted for use in small arms fire which can provide a variety of uses, ranging from personnel protection to protection for larger structures, such as vehicles, vessels, buildings, or emplacements.